Paul Gauguin, “Self-Portrait Dedicated to Vincent van Gogh”, Oil on Canvas, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Once settled in the town of Arles, van Gogh embarked upon a project to establish a community of artists: he rented a home he called the “Yellow House,” which would serve as a “Studio of the South” and invited Gauguin to join him there. In the months preceding Gauguin’s arrival, the two artists both exchanged letters outlining their creative strategies and painted prolifically, producing works such as van Gogh’s The Poet’s Garden and Gauguin’s The Vision of the Sermon. Both artists began to experiment with compositional techniques derived from Japanese art as well as the symbolic language of color, emphasizing subjective feelings and ideas over naturalistic representation.
In the unfolding dialogue between them, each artist allowed his identity to emerge, their relationship developed, and a budding creative competition was born. Van Gogh viewed himself as a monk or disciple, spreading the word about a “new art,” and looking to the older artist for leadership, while Gauguin perceived himself as a rebellious bohemian, a victim of society.
Gauguin presented himself as an “outlaw” in his self-portrait, which specifically alludes to the noble character of Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables. The bold lines of the figure and the vivid colors of the flowered wallpaper manifest Gauguin’s interest in “an abstract, symbolic style.” Van Gogh, however, was disappointed when he received Gauguin’s Self-Portrait, believing that it expressed torment while failing to offer any hope or consolation. He even suggested to his brother Theo that the troubled Gauguin would benefit from a stay in the reinvigorating environment of Arles.